The Christmas season is arguably the busiest time of year, and the thing is that it never takes age into account. Look at Johnny Mathis. He\u2019s 82, and he still hits the hustings every holiday. He\u2019s stopping by San Diego Symphony\u2019s Copley Symphony Hall today, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m., with “Johnny Mathis: A Christmas Concert 2017,” featuring your classic holiday favorites and Johnny\u2019s legendary hits like “Misty” and “Chances Are.” Amid a 60-year career, and whatever the season, Johnny still has one of the most remarkable voices in music. Copley Symphony Hall is located at 750 B St. downtown. For more, see\u00a0sandiegosymphony.org\u00a0or call 619-235-0804.
\nShe\u2019s been called the logical successor to the late Dinah Washington such a colossal honor, in fact, comes along once in a lifetime, and that\u2019s only if you outlive the honoree. For you, that once in a lifetime is Sunday, Dec. 17, at 8 p.m., when pre-eminent jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves visits downtown\u2019s Balboa Theatre with music from her celebrated album, “Christmas Time Is Here,” courtesy La Jolla Music Society. Renowned for her improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings, Reeves melds grace, elegance and charisma into unforgettable jazz renditions of holiday favorites such as “Little Drummer Boy,” “Carol of the Bells,” “Christmas Waltz,” “I\u2019ll Be Home for Christmas” and “Let It Snow.” The Balboa Theatre is at 868 Fourth Ave. For more, see\u00a0ljms.org\u00a0or call 858-459-3728.
\nEvery family has treasured holiday traditions that bring it together in celebration of the most special time of year. Around these parts, one of those traditions is San Diego Symphony\u2019s holiday concert, “Noel Noel,” set Friday, Dec 22 at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Dec 23 at 2 and 8 p.m at Copley Symphony Hall downtown. Holiday favorites and a carol sing-along, as well as a visit from the fat man himself, mean that this is the concert your family won\u2019t want to miss. The venue is located at 750 B St. Further information is available at 619-235-0804 or\u00a0sandiegosymphony.org. \u00a0\u00a0
\nIf the carolers in the Spreckels Theater lobby don\u2019t inspire you to the season, maybe “The Nutcracker” will. City Ballet of San Diego\u2019s elegant production, running through Dec. 24, will take you on Clara\u2019s magical journey from her family Christmas party, wherein toy soldiers and mice accompany her to the enchanted Snow Forest and on to the Land of Sweets, where she is welcomed by the Sugar Plum Fairy and magical performances from dancers throughout the world. But you know the story. Now go see it. The Spreckels is at 121 Broadway downtown. Showtimes and more information can be found at 858-274-6058 or\u00a0cityballet.org. \u00a0
\nNot to be outdone, San Diego\u2019s California Ballet Company is mounting “The Nutcracker” through Dec. 23 at downtown\u2019s Civic Theatre through Dec. 23. See\u00a0californiaballet.org\u00a0or call 858-570-1100 for more.
\nEvery night since Nov. 4, The Old Globe Theatre has morphed into Whoville, Dr. Seuss\u2019 oasis for the peaceful Whos and a boon for the evil Grinch, bent on spoiling the village\u2019s holiday. And every night until Dec. 24, little Cindy Lou Who will turn the Grinch\u2019s heart on a dime with the love of the season. See for yourself in “Dr. Seuss\u2019 The Grinch Who Stole Christmas!,” which hasn\u2019t lost a step in its 20th year. The Old Globe is located at 363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Showtimes and more details are available at\u00a0oldglobe.org\u00a0or at 619-234-5623.
\nBefore his days as a heavyweight music mogul, Motown icon Berry Gordy was a no-name featherweight boxer soon to launch the careers of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Smokey Robinson and many more. Broadway San Diego\u2019s “Motown the Musical,” which runs Dec. 26 to 31 at downtown\u2019s Civic Theatre, fetes the sound that shattered barriers, shaped lives and made us move to the same beat. Featuring classics such as “My Girl” and “Ain\u2019t No Mountain High Enough,” the story is a monument to Broadway as well as it continues to break records in New York. The Civic is at 1100 Third Ave. For more, see\u00a0broadwaysd.com\u00a0or call 619-564-3000.
\nBroadway San Diego calls it “the story of America then as told by America now” — and the latter can\u2019t get enough of the former. You can see the excitement for yourself from Jan. 6 to 28 as the group mounts the colossal “Hamilton,” the story of West Indian immigrant Alexander Hamilton, the new country\u2019s first Treasury secretary and one of George Washington\u2019s right-hand men during the Revolutionary War. It took playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda seven years to produce the book\u2014add a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B and Broadway, and this piece just might run until the next revolution. The Civic Theatre, at 1100 Third Ave., is Ground Zero; dates and times are available at\u00a0broadwaysd.com\u00a0or 619-564-3000.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Christmas season is arguably the busiest time of year, and the thing is that it never takes age into account. Look at Johnny Mathis. He\u2019s 82, and he still hits the hustings every holiday. He\u2019s stopping by San Diego Symphony\u2019s Copley Symphony Hall today, Dec. 15, at 7:30 p.m., with “Johnny Mathis: A Christmas […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":265539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Art spot: \u2018The Nutcracker,\u2019 Johnny Mathis and other holiday favorites this season","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-265538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}